April 29 to May 5

Strawberries are in season! I am taking full advantage! Denmark is “fresh”.

We learned in Svendborg that in smaller restaurant type venues that you can still smoke. Sometimes smoking looks like so much fun, but it’s not for me. That is one destructive behavior that we seem to share a species…odd. The Danish are an honest hardworking culture with little to no stress. We haven’t seen or heard a stressed person! We understand that people live longer here than anywhere in the world! We had policemen on a fancy motorbike pull us over on the highway. That is he drove beside us and just about tapped on the driver’s window and then he lead the way to the nearest pull off. He warned us to slow down and then he instructed us to make a U turn back onto the highway.

We made a stop in Viborg, looking for my friend Matt Vrba. Who is on tour as well, though without a phone or computer…we knocked on his B & B door, which Jason found like a homing pigeon as we had been there last year…but we’d missed him by an hour. To feel good again we bought our tour mascot, Herman the succulent. His rough scaly leaves are like an alligator and he lives between the seats.
Fermaten in Herning has best sound and light tech so far. A link to some concert shots here:

Fermaten - Herning
http://www.flemmingscully.dk/thumbnails.php?album=187

Bakkehuset - Ikast
http://www.flemmingscully.dk/thumbnails.php?album=185

Electronic posters and ads there are displayed on huge TV screens; no messy posters on the walls. And these TV’s don’t play the sports channels. Our driver that day took us to a huge black ‘sculpture’ which is an art piece like a giant black dome, which shoots a randomly fired flame through the middle. Though unknown, it is guessed that it is symbolizing an upside-down cow?! The country side here is full of yellow tall flowers (yet to be named), cows, and sheep and we make our way North on this day to Skovsgaard. One might call this a one horse town, surrounded by fjords on one side and open ocean the other. The beaches looked like those in Holland with a few old bunkers for added character. We saw 2 people and one dog.

A marathon was making its way through the almost always smooth moving traffic circle while we were minutes from catching our Samsø ferry ! Made it..barely! Be there 15 min prior to your reservation or you are not going. The Brundby Rock Hotel likes you to bring your own mics. We always travel with them, but don’t always use them because often the venues are using state of the art newer better ones (Danish venues have particularly good hi-tech gear. A kitten came in through the window of our back room. Jason named him Lickem. This cat licked more that most dogs do! Samsø could be the most peaceful and electrified place on earth…the northern tip of the 15 km long island is all beach and sand dunes. I took off my boots to feel the white soft sand & gorgeous blue green ocean under my feet. The shells and stones are pastel in color. We saw 4 people.

There is a cancellation in Maanen. That never feels good, but there is no sense stressing over something you can do nothing about and this town is trendy and fun…though as all places in Denmark; deserted on a Sunday. A few very windy glorious days off are spent in a B&B above a bakery in RIBE, the oldest city in Denmark. Our hosts leave us baked fluffy chocolate treats at night. Isn’t it amazing how good a surprise like that feels?! The town has their 1200 year anniversary this year. Amber jewelry and Mead (Drink from the horns of your cap when possible!) is popular here. Jason goes to the church to write some there are so many glorious churches complete with fancy pipe organs and angelic stained glass. I am sensing some big changes. The wind is strong;almost always…which also explains why the Dutch and Danish girls historically wore braids!